The Education Racket

EDUCATION RACKET

By Hidesato Sakakibara

How I love the summers. Strolling during my spare time through the parks of NYC, as well as walking down the streets. The warm weather serves as an inducement for men to wear less, to take their shirts off, with only their tee shirts or athletic shirts left to cover their bodies. And in the case of many younger men, their sinewy hardness is so evident through their tee shirts, or, better yet, they have the guts to walk down the streets with their shirts unbuttoned, revealing their gorgeous chests and abs. How I love the summers.

This year, 2002, we had a very hot summer. The heat began early and lasted for some time. At the onset of the season, I remember leaving the office for my daily lunch hour walk, and taking in the sights of some young men, part of a construction crew, near my office. Some were topless, and they were built like Mack trucks. I stood across the road from them, idolizing them, and trying as hard as I could to breathe in some of their smell, even if it was just a little bit. But no, all I could smell was car exhaust, and hot, dry cement.

The Beginning of the End

I went back to the office and to my desk to begin my work, when all of a sudden the general manager of our department came to me and requested that I go with him into a conference room to discuss something. “Now what does he want,” I remember myself thinking. “Pain in the ass.” “No doubt, it is about the next party and he wants me to help plan it.”

So into the conference room we went and just before we sat down he said “yappari, anatawa dame desu ne.” In other words, “your work is no good.” I remember repeating the word over and over in my head; “dame” (no good), dame, dame. I was confused.

As I stated in the This & That section of the last essay, Shotgun Wedding, things were not going well for our company. A lot of business was lost after 9/11, and frankly, we were getting ready for staff cuts. But what I heard from my GM during our meeting blew my mind.

“Sakakibara-san, your work is just not up to par. I can not accept this low caliber of work from you. It is just no good.” Just no good!?!?!?!? After all this time and suddenly my work was no good? “But why?” I asked. “What can I do to make it better?” His reply was clear. “You will have to study on your own and bring yourself up, but right now you are a drag on the department!”

He continued. “I will have to really bear down on you now. Really get on your ass, because I cannot cover for you any longer. BUT if you want to quit, then of course that is your decision”

“Son-of-a-bitch” I thought. Now it is all clear. My work was fine. He just wanted me to quit so he could shave off a few thousand dollars off his budget, and then perhaps hire someone else at one-third the cost. And by harassing me, he could get me to quit WITHOUT paying any unemployment benefits.

Getting laid off is quite common, especially in this day and age. But I never expected that a Japanese company would stoop to so low a tactic as to harass one of its employees to get him to quit. “How disgusting,” I thought. After all the parties, all the after-work socializing, all the karaoke, suddenly my work was shit only because he thinks he can get someone to do it for less money. The man that was my friend, that once told me he was so happy to have me on his staff, was now my mortal enemy. It was a harrowing thought.

Well, to make a long story short, I refused to resign my post, complained to the Human Resources department, spoke with my immediate superiors, all of whom vouched for me, and threatened to sue. That’s right, SUE. Hell, if our firm was going to act like a local company then I was going to act like a local employee. I even spoke with the office manager, who confided in me that I and a few others were making a hell of a lot more than most of the other staff members, and that I was not the only one to be targeted.

So, after one month of being harassed, negotiating, and what-not, I finally allowed myself to be terminated without bias, with severance pay and unemployment benefits. I won, but lost my job. So now, while my M is working, at home I sit.

The Situation

Naturally, I am sending out resumes by the hundreds, but with the atrocious economy and job market, I do not expect to find a similar position, let alone pay level. Overseas readers may find it interesting that the US, while not a bastion of wealth for some time, has taken a great turn for the worse. To be sure, the job market had been horrible for many years now, but at least then getting a lower paying job was not impossible. Now, however, I find myself competing for jobs that pay about 40% of what I was making at my former firm. The good times have ended, and the pain is being felt all over the country.

Recently I took a walk down Fifth Avenue, NYC’s main thoroughfare. I was shocked. So many stores were lying empty. Some others had going out of business signs. It was a harrowing sight. I am getting reports from all over the US – from Texas to New Jersey – of entire shopping malls on the verge of bankruptcy. Not a pretty picture.

I repeat, things are worse in many other parts of America. California, I have heard, is even worse off. Many who had made USD40,000-50,000 now find themselves making less than half , with NO health or other benefits. The situation is grave.

To give readers a clearer example, even white American men, those who unofficially are the most sought after, are hurting. For us minorities, the situation is horrible. I have heard of one Asian-American relocating to Ronkonkoma, out in Long Island, for a mere USD25,000. He was once making USD60,000, but after nearly a year of being out of work, is desperate.

Operations of many Japanese firms here are all but collapsing. The larger ones have downsized greatly, while many smaller firms have closed. Many financials, who have their US bases in NYC, are paring down their staffs drastically. Worse, with the exception of a few very specialized positions, they prefer young women for nearly all of their open jobs. According to their convoluted thinking, women will take less money and are willing to be bossed around to a greater degree. I disagree, but even if this were true, where does it leave us men?

For those without a PR (permanent residency) visa, the situation is almost hopeless. Either get married to be able to remain in the country legally, or leave. Any many of my PLUS friends are doing just that; they are packing up and getting out. This is especially true of my PLUS Japanese friends. Some are following my advice and are going to Thailand, a country that is seeing a slight upturn in its economy. Others, determined to remain in North America, are going to Canada.

I have mentioned Canada a few times in other articles as a great place to live. According to The New York Times the Canadian economy is doing better than that of the US (October 8, 2002, World Business, Canada Economy Grows Where Others Falter). For those that want to live in Canada, especially for those PQs (potato queens), I recommend contacting my friend Sei at Nassau Consulting. They seem to be able to help those that would normally have trouble getting in.

Many employment agencies are closing while others are branching out into alternative businesses. This is especially true for those agencies that deal with Japanese companies. I have no doubt that such business in the US will only decline. The number of Japanese expatriates is declining rapidly, with the general number of all Japanese nationals falling steadily. Those that are here are increasingly students or those that have overstayed their visas. For the most part their futures here are bleak. Heck, the future is bleak for many in this country. Check out the figures.

“The average cardholder's outstanding balance is $4,400-up 123 percent in only a decade, according to the Nilson Report, while personal income rose 72 percent. Meanwhile, the government recently reported that personal savings have fallen to the lowest monthly level in history.” (http://www.debtsmart.com/cgi-pl/debt_stats_02.cgi)

I personally believe this balance to be closer to USD8,000. The stats also state that “Today (2001), the typical U.S. household carries an average credit-card balance of $7,500 up from less than $3,000 in 1990.” Again, I believe that these figures are vastly understated, with household credit card debt more likely at USD12,000-15,000.

The report adds that “Credit card spending jumped 8.1% in the first half of the year, and nearly 5% of consumers are late with credit card payments, according to industry newsletter The Nilson Report. Home foreclosures have hit a 30-year high. Personal bankruptcies are at record levels.”

As I repeat again and again, if you are employed in Asia STAY PUT! Forget about chasing the American dream. Unless you are in a life-or-death situation, this dream will more likely turn out to be a nightmare. If you are an American planning to return home, plan again. Unless you have a job waiting for you, you will most likely be working as a temp, or, in the “restaurant profession.”

The Next Step

While sitting at home sending resumes, I am amazed at the number of e-mail I receive telling me to “retrain.” Retrain, for those unfamiliar with the word, is another way of saying to go back to school and receive even more education.

Here in NYC, we are inundated with advertisements by universities extolling the virtues of greater education. No degree? Get one! Have a degree? Then get a Masters degree! Have that? Then how about a professional certificate?!

Many here are duped into thinking that his/her lack of job prospects is due in part to a lack of training. So thousands upon thousands gladly plop down the vast sums of money needed to get degrees, or advanced degrees, or certificates. Of course, they will most likely never see an appropriate return on their investment.

As I stated in previous articles, the US is an excellent place to go to college. The level of education is perhaps the highest in the world. However, many people, including many PLUS Asians that I know, are considering getting advanced degrees to make themselves more marketable. Truth-be-told, by getting higher degrees and certificates, they are in general making themselves more unemployable by becoming overqualified.

As I stated in WORKING, the US has an oversupply of talent. The past few years have seen more and more people obtain higher degrees, and even more receive Bachelors degrees, than there are the appropriate positions to hire them. So we have a glut on the market, especially of those with MBA, MS and other graduate degrees. To make matters worse, there are droves upon droves of people going to school to obtain professional certificates. The schools themselves present these certificate programs as a sure-fire way to a better job or more pay. Balderdash!

The Education Racket

Each time I ride on the subway I see ads for such programs, or for schools inviting me to retrain in one profession or another. However, from my own contacts in employment agencies, all the professions, with the exception of nursing, are hurting.

Do we really need so many people with so much education? If it is purely for personal fulfillment, then fine. But for professional reasons this whole situation is getting out of hand. The idea that one had vastly better chances with higher degrees is nonsense. It is no better than a racket to keep the classrooms filled and to spread false hope.

I should know. I have an undergraduate degree, a graduate degree, and two professional certificates. In today’s job market, however, I dare not write all this on my resume lest I be considered overqualified. The jobs that warrant higher degrees in general are so few in number, that strutting all my stuff on my resume would be tantamount to career suicide. To readers contemplating paying the money, usually USD20,000 or more, for such degrees, I urge you to reconsider. You would do far better to invest the money in real estate.

So many Asians, especially PLUS Asians believe in a solid education. I know I do. But from the point of view of the job market, is it really to our advantage to pursue higher degrees at all costs? I mean, do we all really know what we are doing? Or, should I say going to do with these degrees once we get them?

Should someone lose his/her job, it is very common in the US that he will not find work in the same wage level, with his pay likely to be lower by at least 30%. Many people with great education and skills are now doing low-wage work. In fact, what we are observing in the United States and elsewhere is the greatest waste of talent and education every seen, perhaps second only to that witnessed during the tragedy of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Action

My advice on this matter is simple.

1. For those with NO college degree, by all means consider getting a degree. Not that it will greatly help you, but it will put you in line with everyone else.
2. For those considering a graduate degree, unless it is absolutely vital to your career, reconsider. The thousands of dollars that you will spend may very well be spent a hell-of-a-lot more wisely in other ways. Real estate investment is just one example. Purchasing an annuity may be another. No matter, you don’t want to find yourself in my shoes – with a graduate degree that you can not even mention on your resume.
3. As for the many, many schools offering courses leading to a professional certificate, unless you are truly interested in the subject, forget about these money pits. Most such certificates are about as useful as leaky condoms. They may make a nice gesture, but are totally useless.

In the NYC area, schools such as Baruch College, part of the City University of New York, as well as New York University, The Chubb Institute, and The New School are notorious for their marketing of their professional certificates. They plaster the subways and busses with their advertisements, hold open houses, often with free soft drinks and snacks, with so-called “experts” telling their audiences how much better their working lives will be once their get their certificates.

I know of many PLUS Asians, I myself included, that fell for their load of crap. DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY. The certificate you get is barely worth the paper it is printed on, much less the thousands of USD it will cost you to get it. Save the money, invest it, or even splurge for a trip somewhere.

High-Tech Studs

As for the many, many people that I know with high-tech degrees, especially those in computer science, the future does not look bright. Yes, many made good money a few years back, but now all too many of these high-tech studs are being laid off, with literally no place to go for similar work or pay. I expect this profession, which I believe peaked in 2000, to suffer even more. While places such as India and China will see growth in the field, computer science and specifically programming will suffer in the US and other Western nations. One very big reason is that major employers are busy moving such work to low-wage nations. After all, why should a company such as Microsoft hire a programmer in the US for USD50,000 when they can hire someone in China to do the same for more hours for perhaps USD15,000? Expect this trend to gather steam. I mention this because computer technology is where many Asians, in particular PLUS Asians, are making their money. Beware; hard times are ahead!

I believe that we are heading into an era where just getting a job will be rewarding, one in which career aspirations will be put on the back burner. I also believe that the trend will be for more people to seek lower-level work, regardless of their educational background. Things are changing, and are changing fast. It is up to us PLUS Asians, who very often have no family to fall back on, to make the best of things.